Three Songs

A word about copyright

Copyrighting your songs or music is simple.

All you need to do is put a copy, either written or recorded, into an envelope and then send it to yourself by registered post.  Registered post is legally stronger than standard post, and is recorded by the post office with a date.
It is a good idea to label the envelope, because in many years time when you might need it you could well have forgotten what is on the disc.  When you recieve your package in the mail just keep it safe and don't open it!

The purpose of copyright is to provide proof of rights to use of material.  If you try to sell someone elses music as your own and they find out then they will bring you to court, if they are nice people, and produce their copyrighted document as proof that they had the song first.  If you've been bold enough to copyright it yourself then the date on the document will hold the key to who had the song first.
For this reason it is a good idea to copyright your songs as soon as they are finished.

You can copyright multiple songs in the same document , you don't need to do them one at a time.

Another less obvious reason for copyright is this; If someone else has copyrighted your song, and therefore has rights over its use, they can legally prevent you from playing it in public.  Did you know that Michael Jackson owns the rights to lots of the beatles songs, and Paul MacCartney has to ask permission to play them now?

I like idea of other people playing my songs, but I'd like to be acknowledged at the same time.  I also would not like the idea of someone telling me I can or can't play my own stuff, so I copyright all my material once it is written.

For me it is not about money it is about identity.   It is my song and i'm proud of it.

west limerick 102fm......song competition

I thought that our budding songsmiths might be interested in this ..........

The

West Indie

Hour Song Competition

To celebrate the launch of the show,

West Limerick

102FM is running The West Indie Hour Song Competition. First prize is a days recording time in Data Recording Studios in Kerry to record the winning song. A runner up prize will be offered by Future Sound and Vision music shop on

Mulgrave Street

in

Limerick

City

.

Three finalists will be invited onto the West Indie Hour to perform their tracks live in studio before an outright winner is chosen by our judges. More details about the judges and prizes will be announced in the coming weeks.

All you have to do to enter is to send a recording of your song to The West Indie Hour. The decision will be based on the song itself, so the quality of the recording will not matter, the best way to record it these days may well be via mobile phones and email if you have no other way to do it!

How to enter:

1. Record your song. Anything from cassette tape recording via Dictaphone or mp3 via your mobile phone could work, but entries must finally be presented on one of the following media;

CD

Mp3 (via email)

Cassette Tape

Mini Disc

2. Send a recorded copy of your song, with the following information attached:
   
   a) Name of Song
   b) Name of songwriter(s)
   music by:
   lyrics by:
   c) Full set of Lyrics, and
   d) Contact details
   Name
   Phone
   Email
   Address

Via email –  westindiehour@gmail.com

By post –  The West Indie Hour Song Competition

 

West Limerick

102FM

 

Enterprise

Center

 Sheehan's Road

 

Newcastle

West

 

Co.

Limerick

3. Deadline –  all entries must be received no later than

Friday 11^th April 2008

.

Entry is open to song-writers of all ages, styles and genres. However, for a better idea of the style The West Indie Hour likes, its best to tune in to the show. There should be more than enough inspiration for song-writers and music lovers alike!

So, song-writers out there, get busy! To everyone else, be sure to tune in to;

The

West Indie

Hour

Sundays

7-8pm

on

West Limerick

102FM.

Listen live at www.westlimerick102.ie

www.myspace.com/westindiehour

*** *** ***

The

West Indie

Hour Song Competition Rules

1. Submitted song must be completely original in composition. The entrant must own the rights to the intellectual property, i.e. – the music and lyrics must be an original creation of the entrant. For more details on copyright and intellectual property, visit the Irish Music Rights Organisation website, www.imro.ie.

2. The submitted song should be between 3 and 5minutes long. You may exceed 5min if you wish; however longer songs are less likely to be successful. Unless we receive some Bohemian Rhapsody equivalent, the core of the song should lie within 3-5min.< SPAN>

3. Song may be performed by a third party; however it is the song that is being judged, not the performance. Remember, three finalists will be invited to have their song performed live on the show. The competition winner will be the author of the song, as credited in the entry form.

4. Entrants should ideally be based in the

   Munster

   area, or should have a local

   Limerick

   connection. However, entrants from around the country will also be considered.

5. The submitted song cannot have been previously commercially recorded or released in

   Ireland

   or abroad.

6. The prize of a days recording in Data Recording Studios includes engineer/producer. The purpose of the time is to record and produce the winning song only; any additional recording is entirely at the discretion of the studio manager. The prize does not include audio mastering, CD duplication or any subsequent services. For details on the studio visit www.datarecordingstudios.com.

The judge's decision is final.

Where is the Workshop

Glad you asked really.  Not very far from the Arthurs Quay shopping metropolis, is the Cuckoo Box, to be found on Denmark St.
See you there at  2:30 this Sunday (17th)

week 38

We had performances this week from myself, Therese Hayes, John Garvey, Elaine Cullinane, Taryn, Tom Kelly, Fergal Nash and Dominic Taylor. Myself and Tom had a bit of an impromptu jam, in preparation for the Session Box that is starting next week (11th).  We played through two of my songs, Mary Jane and Dreams of the Sun and the Sea.
Following on from last weeks great set John Garvey returned with Taryn doing some harmonies on his songs.  They worked really well, adding another side to the songs.

We had a vistit from Therese Hayes who hasn't been in in a while.  She will be auditioning for a band this week and so came along to brush off a few cobwebs.  She finished off the evening, with my accompaniment on the guitar, and raised the roof off the White House.  See for yourself in the video.

The missing videos

So after a quick (ha ha) install on the PC I am able to upload videos again.

SO here is the video from last week, WEEK 37...

and here is the video from a couple of weeks earlier, WEEK 35....

So now we're all up to date....ENJOY

January 2008

Welcome to the New Year everybody.  A little late of me,  but I hope I can make up for it.
We have had 4 songwriters nights so far this year and all were really entertaining.  There have been some new faces showing up, playing us their music, and also some more regular musicians coming in and doing their thing.
Over the past few weeks we have met John Garvey, Elaine Cullenan, Taran, Jack, and Ronan.
We have also had performances from Maria Kinsella, Tom Kelly, Fergal Nash, Dominic Taylor, Andrew Murphy and Chris Wood (that's me).

oops...

Most weeks I'll bring down my camera and take a few videos and pictures for the blog.  Unfortunately for you, I forgot the camera one week and then another week I wasn't even there, due to flu, so there are only a few new videos to see.  Another "oops" is that at the mo I'm having trouble uploading the videos so you can't even see the ones that I have!! gosh....maybe next week everything will be back to normal....!

coming up

Over the next week I'm organising a couple of things.(see NEWS over on the left for more details)

Firstly there is a new music session starting in the Cuckoo Box on Denmark st.  This reminds me of the famous Tin Pan Alley aka Denmark st. in London, which is a famous area for music shops and gigs, so I'm happy to be playing there.
There will be an opportunity for you to come in and get out your guitar (or piano, accordion, flute..etc) and jam along with us for a few songs.  I will be hoping people will bring their own material to the session but covers will be welcome too.  The emphasis is on people playing and improvising together at this gig, called the Session Box and it will be on Wednesdays starting at 8.30.

The opening night is Wednesday 13th Feb

I hope to see you there.

The second event to look out for is our second Songwriters Workshop.  Possibly better described as a Think Tank, we will get together, venue to be confirmed, and discuss songwriting.  I hope to dissect a few songs  and also to work on someones songs while we are there.  There is already some interest in the workshop but please get in touch if you'd like to come along. There is no charge and you'll be able to buy tea or snacks wherever we hold the event.  The date is set for  SUNDAY 17th February and we will find a city centre location, probably a quiet pub somewhere.

You can contact me at threesongs@yahoo.ie

I look forward to seeing you at one or more of these events, either the songwriters night, the session box or the workshop.  It looks to be an interesting year already.

Chris

coming soon

                     

Oh what a night!!! do do do

The last gig of the year,  the pre-Christmas bash, and what a great night it turned out to be....quite convenient really.

In recent weeks at the White house we had been entertaining a slightly different crowd, more of the shoppers and the pre and post dinner goers than usual.  We were generally a bit shorter on musicians as well.
To Make up for this I organised a band for this week.  "No Land Folk" made their way to O'Connell street, brought a heap of equipment and we set about organising a gig......more later.

Our usual open mic session took place but with a twist.  It was Christmas Songs night! I had encouraged people to come along with Christmas songs, covers or originals, and we had a good mix of each.

There were songs from Myself, Dominic Taylor, Tom Kelly, Fergal Nash, Alan Kavanagh, Alan Wilson and Maria Kinsella.  The audience appreciated the efforts of the songwriters and also the mince pies. 

Festivities were clearly underway and what better way to help them along than bring on an accordion, a piano, a fiddle player, a bodhran and a host of singers to finish the night...oh and another guitar too!

There was much shuffling around to find space and many plinks and plonks to get the sound system balanced...and then they were off!!!!!

You cannot beat the dynamic of a band in full flow.  Guitar and voice can achieve excellent results and provide great entertainment, but it is hard to compete with a full band and four singers.  And No Land Folk are very tight, not just on space, and well practiced.

I'll leave the video to describe their sound and leave you all with wishes for a Very Happy Christmas and hopes that all your dreams come true in the new year.

2007 has been a turn around year for me and the Three Songs night has been a strong part of that.  I truly hope it gets better and better this year and am well aware that I don't do it on my own.  Thanks everyone for coming along and developing the evening.  I am always open to suggestions, so if you've any ideas about the night or would like to arrange something else, or maybe your own band to come along, please contact me at Threesongs@yahoo.ie

Go raibh maith agat

Chris

weeks 31 and 32

                

Here is the Video for WEEK 31.

With a lot of people exhuasted from shopping for the crimbo, and possibly watching the match as well, it was a somewhat quiet week for the Three Songs night.  Still, we had a few performers, including Gabrielle and Brendan, Andrew Murphy, Chris Wood (that's me) Darragh Jennings and Nico.

The night, as always, began with a certain amount of uncertainty (?).  As the artists wander into the bar then the momentum builds up and sometimes, before I know what's hit me, I'm wondering if there is time for everyone to play.  This week there Was "time for everyone".

SONGWRITERS WORKSHOPS

As a community of musicians and songwriters we are developing.  Two weeks ago a few of us met up for an informal chat about songwriting.  It was the beginnings of a songwriters workshop, which we would hope to hold every month, if not every couple of weeks.  Five of us sat around and played a few chords, talked about finding chords to fit together, thought about songwriting competitions and even re-wrote the chords to one persons song...( by request).  In all it was an enjoyable couple of hours and provided a basis for another meeting in the near future.

If anyone is interested in coming along then please leave a comment or come along on a Tuesday and have a chat about it.

                           

If you head over to the bar for a drink you'll meet these two lovely ladies, Brida and Linda. Only people whose names end in "a" are allowed to work here on a Tuesday.

      WEEK 32

                

Week 32 was a cracker!  We had performances from Maria Kinsella, Seamus Fogarty, Dominic Taylor, Larry de Cleir, Tom Kelly, Chris Wood and Andrew Murphy.  Both myself and Dominic gave tasters of our christmas songs for next week.....

Where have we been these last few weeks?

Three Songs has now been running for 30 Weeks.  This blog has been going for 7 weeks.  Thankfully I've only missed one show myself, due to being on holiday,  but already i've managed to miss doing the write-up twice in row.  Weeks 29 and 30, whilst being great nights in the White House, have proved to be busy times for myself.  The videos are here for you to see, if only as proof of the fact that the gig is still up and running...and ticking along quite nicely.

WEEK 29

This week we featured an artist from Galway named John Tully.  He drove all the way down and so I thought deserved a slightly longer set than usual.   www.myspace.com/jtsongs is where you can hear more from his new album.

The other musicianes playing that night where myself and Maria Kinsella, Dominic Taylor, Alan Walsh, Brian Connoly, Fergal Nash, Mateo Cullen and final Roisin ni Galloglaidh (or Rosie for short).

It was the first time here for Alan Walsh and he said he was quite nervous as he hadn't played and sang infront of an audience before.  After his first song I thought it appropriate to tell him it was really well done, and he seemed quite pleased by that.

                                 

Mateo Cullen came back to us again with his electric guitar and funky rhythic playing...and also a whole song "as gaeilge" for which he recieved a " bualadh bos mor " .

                                  

And finally the night finished off with Rosey in her stripey jumper......

                                  

AND SO ONTO WEEK 30................................

         

When Three Songs got half way to 60, you thought there'd be a bit of a celebration.  Well, things when on in their usual fashion, a few regular faces turned up to play and a couple of new ones arrived aswell.

We had performances from Darragh Jennings, Dominic Tatlor, Fergal Nash, Tom Kelly, Andrew Murphy, and also for the first time Seamus Fogarty and Mike Brogan. Once again Rosie finished off the night.

Seamus played a brilliant style of guitar, very simple but with easy melody and definate rhythm...all at the same time.

                                 

Afterward came Mike Brogan who strapped a harmonica around his neck and began with "Carrickfergus".  We were all suddenly out on the west coast of Claire, sitting round a turf fire and eating stew.Mike finished off with one of his own songs that was written about 12 years ago.